The Cost of a Codex Page
by MythicElf
Summary: An Ezio/Leo one-shot in which Leonardo is stumped with a painting and needs something to get his mind off of his work. Dedicated to DoubleLeaf's :yaoi: Not So Easy


**A/N: Tada! Here it is, my very first Ezio/Leonardo fic. Truth be told, it's actually like Didn't Mean It in a way, but that's probably because it's my first. This fic was based on Doubleleaf's piece called **_**:yaoi: Not So Easy. **_**I owed her. And as you probably noticed, I decided not to make it lemony so if you were disappointed, **_**mi **__**dispiace**__**.**_

…

**Leonardo sat on his little stool, chin resting on his fist, gazing intensely at what was to be his latest masterpiece. He was waiting, waiting for the painting to reveal itself to him, but for now he was staring at an empty canvas with pain slowly crawling up his spine.**

**He stood up from the wooden stool to stretch, fully intent on coming back to it later. But he couldn't allow himself to do that—he knew from experience that if he gave up now the picture would nag him and nag him until he actually forced himself to sit still long enough to paint it. Not to mention his tendency to procrastinate. So he had to do this **_**now**_**—ugh, this wasn't going to be fun.**

"_**Grazie **__**Dio**__**,**_**" he sighed in relief as Ezio entered the door behind him. Leave it to his **_**asesino**_** to save him from ****Verocchio's**** doomed painting.**

"**Leonardo!"**

"**Ezio," he spun on his heels, failing miserably to mask his anxiety. "So good to see you. How can I help you?"**

**Ezio was already reaching into one of his pouches when he looked up at Leonardo with a concerned expression. "Is something bothering you, **_**amico**_**?"**

**There was no point in lying, seeing as he was so terrible at it. With a frustrated sigh he took Ezio's hand and led him over to the blank canvas. "It's this painting. It's due in a week and I haven't even started yet!"**

**Ezio hated seeing Leonardo like this. The man was clearly an artistic genius, but his penchant for putting things off was keeping him from reaching his true potential. He admired Leonardo, maybe even something more, and he wanted to do whatever he could to help.**

"**I need… inspiration." Leonardo was saying.**

**But Ezio had a better idea. "No, you need a distraction."**

**Leonardo didn't know what he meant, so he was especially delighted to see a scroll covered in arcane writing. "Aha! You found another one! How ex—!"**

**But it was gone as fast as it had come, dangling over his head by a gloved hand. He reached up to get it, and higher it went. "E-Ezio, just… give me the page!"**

**As fun as it was, this wasn't the distraction Ezio had in mind. Not only was it Leonardo's, but it was also his. Sometimes he grew tired of hunting down the ****Pazzi****, of chasing pickpockets and Borgia couriers. He wanted something a little more than what the courtesans could give him. He wanted Leonardo.**

"**Leonardo, Leonardo, stop!" he laughed, holding the page behind his back. "I'll give it to you in a moment."**

"**Why not now? Ezio, I was looking forward to that page."**

_**Dio,**_** he was adorable when he was disappointed. "Because…" he froze in the middle of his sentence. As much as he wanted to speak, his lips wouldn't let the words pass.**

"**Is there something you need to say?"**

_**Si. But I can't.**_

"**Ezio?" Leonardo was getting worried. What was it that had his assassin so upset? Ezio was a man of many words, but now his mouth was frozen shut. "It's okay, you can tell me."**

**But Ezio didn't want to tell him. He wanted to show him.**

**When Leonardo felt a foreign set of lips on his all he could do was blink in surprise. The mere thought that these were Ezio's mouth crushing his, Ezio's gloved hand curled around the back of his neck, Ezio's tongue brushing against his lips… it was amazing. **

**Ever since Maria had come for her things and brought along with her and angel, all he'd been able to think about whenever Ezio brought him a page was how much he wanted to feel those scarred lips against his. But what he didn't want was for those scarred lips to back away so quickly.**

"_**Mi dispiace**_**, Leonardo. I'm keeping you from your page."**

**He watched in shock as Ezio just up and left, and he'd finally regained his voice minutes later, "But… I don't want it."**


End file.
